SB 10.13.62

SB 10.13.62

Devanagari

द‍ृष्ट्वा त्वरेण निजधोरणतोऽवतीर्य पृथ्व्यां वपु: कनकदण्डमिवाभिपात्य । स्पृष्ट्वा चतुर्मुकुटकोटिभिरङ्‍‍घ्रियुग्मं नत्वा मुदश्रुसुजलैरकृताभिषेकम् ॥ ६२ ॥

Verse text

dṛṣṭvā tvareṇa nija-dhoraṇato ’vatīrya pṛthvyāṁ vapuḥ kanaka-daṇḍam ivābhipātya spṛṣṭvā catur-mukuṭa-koṭibhir aṅghri-yugmaṁ natvā mud-aśru-sujalair akṛtābhiṣekam

Synonyms

dṛṣṭvā after seeing ; tvareṇa with great speed, hastily ; nija dhoraṇataḥ — from his swan carrier ; avatīrya descended ; pṛthvyām on the ground ; vapuḥ his body ; kanaka daṇḍam iva — like a golden rod ; abhipātya fell down ; spṛṣṭvā touching ; catuḥ mukuṭa — koṭi — bhiḥ — with the tips of his four crowns ; aṅghri yugmam — the two lotus feet ; natvā making obeisances ; mut aśru — su — jalaiḥ — with the water of his tears of joy ; akṛta performed ; abhiṣekam the ceremony of bathing His lotus feet .

Translation

After seeing this, Lord Brahmā hastily got down from his swan carrier, fell down like a golden rod and touched the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa with the tips of the four crowns on his heads. Offering his obeisances, he bathed the feet of Kṛṣṇa with the water of his tears of joy.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

After seeing this, Lord Brahmā hastily got down from his swan carrier, fell down like a golden rod and touched the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa with the tips of the four crowns on his heads. Offering his obeisances, he bathed the feet of Kṛṣṇa with the water of his tears of joy. KB 10.13.62 Immediately Brahmā descended from his great swan carrier and fell down before the Lord just like a golden stick. The word used among the Vaiṣṇavas for offering respect is daṇḍavat. This word means “falling down like a stick”; one should offer respect to the superior Vaiṣṇava by falling down straight, with his body just like a stick. So Brahmā fell down before the Lord just like a stick to offer respect; and because the complexion of Brahmā is golden, he appeared to be like a golden stick lying down before Lord Kṛṣṇa. All the four helmets on the heads of Brahmā touched the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Brahmā, being very joyful, began to shed tears, and he washed the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa with his tears.

Purport

Lord Brahmā bowed down like a stick, and because Lord Brahmā’s complexion is golden, he appeared to be like a golden stick lying down before Lord Kṛṣṇa. When one falls down before a superior just like a stick, one’s offering of obeisances is called daṇḍavat. Daṇḍa means “stick,” and vat means “like.” It is not that one should simply say “ Daṇḍavat. ” Rather, one must fall down. Thus Brahmā fell down, touching his foreheads to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and his crying in ecstasy is to be regarded as an abhiṣeka bathing ceremony of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. He who appeared before Brahmā as a human child was in fact the Absolute Truth, Parabrahman ( brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate ). The Supreme Lord is narākṛti; that is, He resembles a human being. It is not that He is four-armed ( catur-bāhu ). Nārāyaṇa is catur-bāhu, but the Supreme Person resembles a human being. This is also confirmed in the Bible, where it is said that man was made in the image of God. Lord Brahmā saw that Kṛṣṇa, in His form as a cowherd boy, was Parabrahman, the root cause of everything, but was now appearing as a human child, loitering in Vṛndāvana with a morsel of food in His hand. Astonished, Lord Brahmā hastily got down from his swan carrier and let his body fall to the earth. Usually, the demigods never touch the ground, but Lord Brahmā, voluntarily giving up his prestige as a demigod, bowed down on the ground before Kṛṣṇa. Although Brahmā has one head in each direction, he voluntarily brought all his heads to the ground and touched Kṛṣṇa’s feet with the tips of his four helmets. Although his intelligence works in every direction, he surrendered everything before the boy Kṛṣṇa. It is mentioned that Brahmā washed the feet of Kṛṣṇa with his tears, and here the word sujalaiḥ indicates that his tears were purified. As soon as bhakti is present, everything is purified ( sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam ). Therefore Brahmā’s crying was a form of bhakty-anubhāva, a transformation of transcendental ecstatic love.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Understanding that the supreme Brahman was this human form, the source of all , he quickly jumped off the back of his swan (nija dhorantah) and fell on the ground. There is a famous saying "devatas never touch the ground". His breaking this rule indicates that he forgot his identity as a devata. He bathed the Lord’s feet with his tears (akrta abhisekam). Because his four heads were facing in four directions, to touch the Lord’s feet, he raised himself again and again and fell again and again on the ground. With great force, because of their profusion, his tears bathed the feet of Krsna. The prefix "su" (su-jalaih:with fine water) indicates that these tears were pure, being the symptom of devotion.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Two verses describe how Brahmā offered respects. It should be understood from this that Brahmā gave up his conception that he was a devatā, for otherwise he would not have touched the ground. It is said na hi devā; bhuvaṁ spṛśanti: devatās do not touch the earth. Brahmā will also say tad bhūri-bhāgyam iha janma kim apy aṭavyāṁ: my greatest possible good fortune would be to take any birth whatever in this forest of Gokula. (SB 10.14.34) He was like a golden stick because his color is somewhat red mixed with yellow. Since he had four heads in the four directions he touched each of his foreheads to the ground one after the other by turning on the ground. Then he touched those heads to Kṛṣṇa’s feet as if kissing them as he began to feel joy. He bathed the Lord’s feet in his profuse tears.